Rubeena on China's development model - South China Morning Post

WHT Alumna, Rubeena Mahato (Nepal, 2015, MPP, Louis Dreyfus) recently published an article through the South China Morning Post (SCMP) about China's growing influence in South Asia. In it, she notes that India and the West are concerned about China's increasing power as a geopolitical force and explains why South Asians should be paying attention too.

"Having lost hope of reducing poverty with the Western development model, developing countries have opted to try the Chinese approach of investing in large infrastructure projects.

It remains to be seen if the Chinese model will rescue countries from underdevelopment or push them deeper into economic troubles. But economic impacts aside, there are other less-discussed consequences of the belt and road strategy and increased engagement with China that South Asian countries should carefully consider".

Rubeena completed  a Master of Public Policy at Oxford as a Louis Dreyfus-Weidenfeld Scholar in 2015. She is a Social Policy Officer at the UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia. One of the most read columnists in Nepal, she has written extensively about failing institutions, endemic corruption, and dwindling trust in democracy in war-torn Nepal for the Nepali Times – the country’s top news magazine.

To read the rest of Rubeena's article, visit her alumni profile page.